


Home Is Where All The Little Hearts Beat As One

by JenniM777



Series: Keithtober 2019 [18]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Adoption, Finding a home, Fluff, Home, Hopeless Romantics, M/M, happy endings, lots of kids
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-01
Updated: 2019-12-01
Packaged: 2021-02-26 04:01:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,750
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21637048
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JenniM777/pseuds/JenniM777
Summary: Day 18 of Keithtober: HomeKeith finds a handful of abandoned kids and an unexpected home.
Relationships: Keith/Lance (Voltron)
Series: Keithtober 2019 [18]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1504211
Comments: 10
Kudos: 96





	Home Is Where All The Little Hearts Beat As One

**Author's Note:**

> This turned out way longer than I expected but I became attached to this idea and I couldn't let it go. I hope you all enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing this one.

Home….that was one word that held a lot of power over Keith. You wouldn’t think something so simple has a word could do that, but this particular word meant more to Keith than anyone could have ever known. You see for a while, Keith had a stable home. It wasn’t much but it was his. He had his dad and he was loved. But Keith learned early in life that stability isn’t always a constant, that anything could be ripped away from you at any given time.

He’s had many homes in what he would call a short life. He’s not even twenty-five and he’s been bounced from foster home to foster home, he’s lived at the Garrison for a few years, he was kicked out and lived alone for a year, he was whisked away in a flying robotic lion and lived on a castle with strangers. So yea, you could say he’s had a thing or two to learn about homes. But this…..Keith looks around and knows…this is home.

_Eight Months Ago:_

There’s a small outpost near the Garrison. It was once someone’s house that had long been abandoned, but after the war several nurses managed to turn it into a make shift safe house. It had started out as a place for those with nowhere to go, some place with warm blankets and a hot meal but as Keith walked into the main sleeping area, Axca and Ezor several steps behind and Kosmo sniffing around the trees, something inside his chest began to ache. He had originally heard about this place the last time he stopped in to visit the other Paladins and made it his goal to bring supplies to help out the next time he was on Earth. But he was not expecting to see a handful of children, all dirty and scared huddled together. 

“Where are their parents?”

The worker who was showing Keith around just shrugged, “They just got dropped off one day and no one ever came back. Best we can figure out, they are all siblings. Laura is the oldest, she’s thirteen. Jack is eleven and oh so angry. Toby and Tory are nine, and baby Madison is fifteen months.”

Keith just stood there and watched the kids, “How long have they been here?”

  
“About four months. They’re the only ones we’ve had. Everyone else kind of quit working but me and one other, we rotate staying here. I can’t leave them alone.”

  
Keith turned to face the lady, “I’m sorry. I didn’t get your name.”

  
She gave a soft smile, “I’m Lacy. The other lady that works here is Jenna.”

Keith returned her smile and held out his hand, “It’s nice to meet you Lacy. I’m going to do whatever I can to help you find someone to take care of these kids.”

  
Lacy’s smile fell, “We’ve tried. No one wants all of them, and I can’t stand to see them separated.”

Keith nods and finishes walking through the rest of the building with Lacy. The first thing he notices is that it is not even remotely appealing to children, let alone five of them. He noticed the array of beds and bedding. All of the blankets were a dull grey or brown and looked scratchy. There were no toys of any sort, the rooms were dusty and bare, and the house needed a lot of repairs.

Keith made a few notes on his tablet and once Lacy went back to the children Axca followed him back to their supply ship, “What are your plans?”

  
Keith walked to the supplies and began unloading boxes, “We unload everything we have for Lacy and Jenna. Axca, I want you to take over the rest of our drops we have scheduled. Ezor, I need you to relay back to Krolia and Kolivan. I’m staying here…..for a while.”

If either of them found Keith’s requests to be odd, they didn’t call him out on it. Once everything was unloaded and into the safe house, Keith filled Lacy in on his plans, “This should be enough food for at least a month. I’ll be back tomorrow with more supplies to make some repairs.”

Before he could react, Lacy pulled him into a hug, “Thank you. Thank you so much.”

Keith softly patted her back, “You don’t have to thank me. I want to help.”

Lacy grabbed Keith’s shoulders, “Your friends left you, what are you planning for the night?”

  
Keith just smiled, “I have a friend coming to get me.”  
With a soft pat to his cheek Lacy just smiled, “Then at least eat something before you leave.”

  
Keith looks down as he feels a tug on his uniform sleeve. He sees Tory, the little nine year old looking at him with big eyes, “Did you really fly the black lion?”

Keith kneels down so he’s eye level, “I sure did.”

He’s just about to ask Tory if she wanted to see some pictures of the lions when Jack stomps by and shoves into him with his shoulders, “Don’t get attached Tory. He ain’t staying.”

Behind him, Keith hears Lacy sigh, “I’m so sorry.”

  
Keith stands up and ruffles Tory’s hair, “Don’t apologize. They’ve been through a lot. I get it. I was just like Jack at one time.”

The next day, Keith shows up in a beat up Chevy truck loaded down with wood, tools, several tarps and an overabundance of paint. He’s in an old pair of jeans and a worn out flannel shirt. As the days pass, he learns more about each of the kids.

Laura is an avid reader, and at thirteen years old she still hasn’t lost that innocent child-like wonder. She tells stories to occupy the other children, makes up games, mothers the other children if they even so much as scrape a knee, and Keith can’t help but smile at the fact that she’s a hopeless romantic at heart.

Jack is every bit as angry as Lacy said he was. He glares at Keith, steals his tools and hides them so Keith has to stop what he’s working on, and it seems because of Keith’s presence, he has begun picking more fights with the other kids.

Toby and Tory are quiet. They are observant, but smart. Keith has learned Toby likes to draw or doodle. For only nine years old, Toby is quite talented and Keith has found he’s happiest when he has something to do with his hands. Keith doesn’t mind giving Toby the last dregs of paint in one of his buckets. Tory on the other hand is what Keith has always heard people refer to as an old soul. She has so much wisdom for such a young age. She likes to sit and watch Toby doodle, listen to Laura’s stories, or just watch as Keith works.

And then there’s Madison. Keith sometimes forgets what he’s doing, so caught up in watching Madison toddle on wobbly legs after the other kids, laughing as the grumpy Jack swings her around in his arms.

They all love Kosmo. Even Jack who tries so hard to not show any emotion can be found sulking in a corner leaning against Kosmo.

Jenna and Lacy try to keep the kids out of Keith’s way when he works, but they are truly fascinated that they have the opportunity to talk to someone who flew a lion.

Six days into repairing the house and Keith is on the roof fixing a leak when he hears a commotion. Looking up, Keith sees Kosmo jumping and barking at a familiar person, all long limbs and tan skin, and several long months since he’s last seen him.

Just as Keith’s foot leaves the last step of the ladder he hears Lance’s voice, “So this is where you’ve disappeared to.”

  
Keith turns to face Lance, his eyes stopping at the blue marks on his cheek, and is immediately pulled into a quick hug and a few pats on the back, “Good to see you too Lance.”

Lance gives him a cheeky smile, “So what exactly have you gotten yourself into out here Mullet? My sister is up in arms because your little disappearing act left Axca in charge of some shit and no time for personal visits.”

Keith leveled a glare at Lance, “Axca knew perfectly well what I was asking of her. She could have turned me down at any time.”

  
Lance shoved his hands in his pockets and shrugged, “True, but I’m just the messenger sent to tell you that Veronica demands Axca have some time off.”

Keith hears a few giggles from off in the distance and finds Laura and Tory spying on them from one of the nearby trees. He sees Lance wave at them and can’t help but smile at the way they shriek at getting caught. Lance turns back to Keith, “So what’s the story with this place?”

Keith frowns and lets out a sigh, “You had lunch yet?”

Lance shakes his head and Keith turns towards the house, “I’ll fill you in over a sandwich and some tea.”

Several hours later Keith watches as Lance holds a sleeping Madison and the sounds of Laura, Jack, Toby and Tory playing a game drift from another room. “So these kids have no one other than Jenna and Lacy, and now you.”

Keith nods.

Lance shifts Madison to his shoulder, “So why fix up this place? Why not find the kids a better place?”

  
Keith sighed and ran a hand through his hair, “Because they literally have nowhere else to go. And they have nothing except the few clothes they came with. I’ve been there Lance. I know what it’s like, so maybe I just feel like I need to pay it forward. Give something to these kids and give them some kind of hope like Shiro did for me.”

“I get it man, but you’re gonna burn yourself out.”

  
Keith watched as the kids went shrieking out the back door, Jack chasing them with a frog. He let out a soft smile at the happy sounds, “Maybe so, but it will be worth it.”

When Lance came back three days later in truck loaded down with so many things he didn’t know what to think, “What are you doing?”

  
Lance climbed out of the truck, duffle bag in hand, “I’m here to help. What does it look like?”

  
Keith’s mouth opened and closed several times before he was able to speak, “Lance…”

  
Lance just lifted a hand, “Don’t say it. I know I don’t have to do this, but like you said, these kids deserve more. And honestly, I think this might be something good for me as well. I’ve been thinking for a while that planting flowers and the farm life might not be what I need anymore, and well, this seems like a great place to find what it is I need.”

Keith didn’t need to press further to know that Lance was talking about his time with Allura. He knew there was still a world of hurt that Lance was dealing with, but Keith was nothing if not glad for the extra help. He also knew the kids would take to Lance and his exuberant story telling.

Laura was the first one to notice Lance and she gave him a shy wave. Lance just grinned and called her over, “I heard you like to read so I told my sisters all about you and they gave me a bunch of old books that they thought you might like.”

Laura’s eyes lit up at the box that Lance handed to her. Instead of running off with the box right away she set it down and threw her arms around Lance’s middle, “Thank you so much.”

  
Lance ruffled her hair and returned the hug, “You’re welcome. And there are a few other things in there that I think you might like as well.”

Toby and Tory made their way into the small living room where Lance was unloading more boxes. He handed Toby a box full of old art supplies that earned him a smile with a missing tooth. Tory was given a box full of word puzzles and toys. There were also several boxes of clothes that Sylvio and Nadia had long outgrown that would fit the younger kids and some toys suitable for Madison. Lance was pulling out the last two boxes with some DIY models of cars and spaceships that he thought Jack would like. When he tried to hand them to Jack he was met with a glare and could only watch as the angry boy stomped off, “Don’t know why you’re tryin so hard. You’re gonna leave one day too.”

Keith watched as Lance’s shoulders slumped. He placed a hand on his back, “Don’t take it personal. He’s angry at everyone.”  
  


Long after the sun had set, Keith could tell Lance was thinking hard on something, “What’s going on in that brain of yours Lance?”

  
Lance frowned, “Where do you sleep?”

Keith just shrugged, “On the couch. It’s close enough I can hear if the kids need something.”

“And the kids?”

Keith sighed, “The girls share one bed and the boys share the other. Madison is still sleeping in the crib.”

  
Lance turned away biting his lip, “Keith, these kids….this isn’t…they should have…”

“I know Lance. Believe me I know.”

Soon after Lance arrives, things start progressing faster. The outside repairs are done and Keith decides to tackle rooms next. It’s time the kids finally have something to make the place feel a bit more personal. Lance has taken Laura, Tory and Madison off somewhere and it’s just Keith with the boys and Jenna who stopped by to cook several meals to last for the next week or so.

Keith is so busy repairing some busted pipes in one of the bathrooms that he doesn’t notice Jack and Toby are no longer in the house. It’s not until he hears Jenna screaming that he realizes something is horribly wrong.

Keith makes it outside to find Jenna in nurse mode looking over a scraped up Toby. Keith kneels in front of him, but stays just out of Jenna’s way. Toby is trembling, and Keith notices with dread that Jack is nowhere to be found, “Toby, where’s Jack.”

Toby’s eyes are glossed over and Keith knows he must be going through some sort of trauma. His voice is so quiet Keith has to strain to hear him, “He fell.”

Keith swallows hard. This isn’t good. Toby would never look this shaken if Jack just tripped over his feet or something so simple as that, “Were you playing? Is that how he fell?”

  
Toby looked down avoiding Keith’s eyes. Keith scooted forward on his knees and lifted Toby’s chin, “Hey buddy, it’s ok. I just need to know where Jack is so I can help him ok?”

  
Toby shifted and winced a bit as Jenna cleaned up a nasty scrape on his arm. He blinked fast but couldn’t stop the hot tears falling down his cheeks, “Jack wanted to see the lookout place again.”

Keith felt his stomach drop. He and Lance had taken the kids a few days ago to a lookout so they could watch the meteor shower. It had been a hit, but he couldn’t stop the dread at where this was going, “Is Jack there now?”

Toby nodded, “I tried to hold onto him. His foot slipped.”

Keith gently cupped Toby’s cheeks, “Ok, ok. Thank you for telling me.”

Just as Keith made to stand up, Toby grabbed his shirt sleeve, “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I tried to hold him but he was too heavy.”

Keith pulled Toby into his arms, “You did good. You got here as fast as you could and you were so brave. But I have to go get Jack. I need you to stay here with Jenna.”

Jenna pulled Toby into her arms, “Go Keith. I’ll call and see if Lacy can come out to help.”

Keith stumbled back and started running. Time was of the essence so before he made three steps he was whistling for Kosmo. In a flash Kosmo was there, in another flash they were at the lookout. There just at the edge was Jack’s hooded sweatshirt. Keith gulped and laid on his stomach to peer over the edge. He reached for Kosmo and the pair landed inches from Jack. Keith pressed two shaky fingers to Jack’s neck and wanted to faint with relief at finding a good strong pulse. But it was far from the best news. Jack’s right arm was twisted at a horrible angle; there were several scrapes along his face and cheeks, a bad cut under one eye, and possibly a broken ankle. But the most worrisome was the knot on the back of Jack’s head. Keith needed to wake him up and get him talking.

Keith pushed Jack’s sweaty bangs from his face, “Hey buddy, wake up. Come on Jack, I need you to talk to me.”

When Jack came to, Keith felt his knees threaten to give out on him. He tried to hide the shaking in his voice so that he wouldn’t scare Jack, “Hey, there you are. I need to move you but I need you to answer some questions. Can you do that for me Jack?”

Jack just blinked at Keith. He knew the boy was in a severe amount of pain but he needed to move him and get him back to the small house soon. Keith grabbed Jack’s hand, “Okay kiddo, I need to know if you can feel me tapping on your knee. Squeeze my hand if you feel that.”

  
A slight squeeze, “Good job. Can you feel me tapping your other knee?”

Another squeeze.

Keith moved to Jack’s feet but was stopped by an insistent squeeze of his hand. When he looked at Jack there was fear and panic in the boy’s eyes. He was close to a break down and Keith needed to keep him calm. It nearly broke all of his resolve when Jack managed to gasp out two words, “Don’t leave.”

Keith brushed his hand through Jack’s hair, “I’m not leaving. I’m not going anywhere without you ok? In fact Kosmo is with me.”

At the sound of his name, Kosmo moved and pressed up against Jack’s side. Keith gave his hand a soft squeeze, “I need to check your legs. I’m going to be here the whole time. I’m going to keep talking so you know I haven’t left, and Kosmo is going to stay by your side the whole time ok?”

  
Jack let a few tears fall from his eyes and gave a small nod.

Finally after what felt like hours, Keith deemed Jack safe enough to move. He pulled his flannel shirt off and helped Jack to sit up, placing the shirt over Jack’s shoulders and using it to hold Jack’s right arm securely against his chest. Keith maneuvered Jack into his arms and rested a hand in Kosmo’s fur. In an instant they were home.

Lacy and Jenna took over as soon as Keith settled Jack into one of the beds. He stepped out of the room and leaned against the wall, rubbing his hands over his face. He was so wrapped up in trying to get his emotions under control that he didn’t hear Lance until he was right there placing a hand on his shoulder, “How is he?”

Keith blinked at Lance and looked around. He expected to see three expectant faces wondering about their brother, but all the kids were notably absent, “Where are the kids?”

  
“I was able to get Luis and Lisa to watch them. They hit it off great with Silvio and Nadia. Once Jenna let me know what happened I didn’t want them to freak out.”

Keith just nodded, “Thanks.”

  
Before Lance could ask anything else, Keith felt his knees finally give out from relief and the adrenaline rush leaving his body. At that exact same moment all of his emotions came out in the form of hot tears. He tipped forward but never hit the floor. Instead he found himself wrapped in strong arms and his ear pressed to a broad chest.

Keith opened his eyes to sunlight coming through the window. He was in a bed instead of the couch. In the bed across from him was Jack who was resting comfortably. There was no one else in the room or so he thought so he wasn’t sure what woke him up. He heard a soft scuffle of feet and looked up to see Toby wringing his hands together. Keith reached out for Toby noticing the dark circles and the exhausted set of his face. He probably didn’t sleep all that well worrying about Jack. He crawled slowly into the bed next to Keith and let out a soft sob, “Hey, it’s okay. Jack is going to be just fine.”

Toby pushed his head into Keith’s chest, “I was scared.”

  
Keith pressed a soft kiss to the crown of dusty brown hair, “Me too buddy.”

Over the weeks, as Jack’s foot and arm healed, so did his anger. He was slowly opening up more, and letting Keith help him work on his temper. They found a great outlet was to let Jack use his good arm to hammer away at bent nails on scrap pieces of wood.

Laura had taken to following Lance around when he was there. He didn’t stay all the time like Keith and so when he showed up, the kids craved his attention. Lance being who he was, gave them all the attention they could handle. On the days Lance wasn’t there Laura would mope around. One such day found her reluctantly and moodily painting a room with Keith that would be for Jack and Toby. She let out a loud sigh and dropped her paint brush in a bucket of water, “Keith, do you believe in true love?”

Keith was now accustomed to such random questions from Laura. But he knew how serious of a question this was for a young teenage girl so he gave it as much thought as his cynical heart could, “I believe that love happens for some people.”

Laura sat cross legged on the floor and watched Keith as he continued to paint, “What about you?”

“What about me?”

Laura picked at a splotch of paint on her jeans, “Have you ever been in love or really liked someone?”

Keith just shrugged, “I’m not sure I know what it feels like to be in love, but I’ve liked someone.”

Keith could feel the excitement rolling off of Laura in waves, “Really? Who is it? What’s it like? Do they like you back?”

  
Keith just chuckled, “I don’t think they like me back.”

Laura frowned at that but didn’t let it dampen her enthusiasm, “But what’s it like? How do you know you like someone?”

  
Keith dropped his own paint brush next to Laura’s and sat on the floor facing her, “I don’t know how to explain it.”

“Just try.”

“Well, at first you don’t really notice anything different. But then when you see them, you kind of get a warm feeling in your stomach.”

  
Laura nodded, “Like drinking Jenna’s homemade hot chocolate milk.”

  
Keith laughed, “Yea, just like that.”

  
“Okay so then what?”

“Then, you notice little things. Like you find out they like cheesy pop music or you find out how much they like silly socks. And then sometimes they smile and you just want to make them smile all the time because it looks nice.”

  
Laura hummed softly, “I think that sounds really nice.”

Keith leaned back to lay out on the floor, “It is. But sometimes it hurts just as much because someone else makes the person you like smile, or they get to hold their hand when you can’t. Sometimes, really liking someone can be kind of sad.”

  
Laura leaned back next to Keith, “I hope whenever you notice someone like that, they notice you just the same.”

As the days grew colder, the kids began to excitedly wait for the first snow. When it finally happened it was the first week of December. They were screaming and tossing snowballs at one another when Lance drove up, large tree sticking out the back of his truck.

Laura squealed, “A Christmas tree!”

Lance laughed and made a show of needing Jack and Toby to help him haul the tree in. Keith was left to bring in some bags that contained ornaments, lights, and other decorations. He was helped by Laura and Tory stopping half way to the front door to ooh and aah over each box of ornaments, Madison squealing right along with them.

Keith scooped up the little girl and nudged Laura and Tory along. The rest of the evening was a chaotic mess of decorating. Keith noticed Lance had pulled Toby off to the side and handed him a bag and whispered something in his ear. Toby’s smile was bright and he gave Lance a nod and ran off. He was back just moments later with a bundle of something. Lance caught Keith watching and just gave him a cheeky wink. He never noticed Laura smiling softly at how his cheeks turned a furious shade of red.

Once the tree was finished Toby came running back from where he had been sitting at the kitchen table, “Wait! We aren’t done yet!”

In his hand he held a box of ornaments with different designs on them. It wasn’t until he placed the box carefully out of Madison’s reach did Keith notice names on them. Toby picked them up and handed them out one by one to his brother and sisters. He let Keith place the one for Madison as he placed his own. He then handed one to Lance, “We had extra so I made you and Keith one.”

  
Lance knelt down and pulled Toby into his arms, “That was super nice of you.”

Keith watched fondly as Lance made a show of placing his ornament directly next to Toby’s. Toby pulled out the last one, “This one is for you Keith.”

  
Keith was still holding Madison and when Toby handed him his ornament, Madison squealed and patted Keith’s cheeks, “Da da da da da da da.”

Keith felt his breath catch and everything seemed to stop. He heard Toby giggling, “No Madison, say Keith!”

Madison squealed again and bounced in Keith’s arms, “Da da da da da da da daa.”

Keith placed his ornament then handed Madison over to Laura, “I’ll be right back.”

  
It was cold outside, but Keith didn’t feel it as he sat on the back steps, head in his hands. He didn’t register anything until he felt a small body press against his side, “Madison thinks you’re her dad.”

Keith looked down at Tory, “Yea.”

  
Tory traced a path in the snow with her fingers, “She doesn’t remember our mom and dad.”

Keith could only watch, “No she’s too little.”

Tory sighed and leaned against Keith, “I think I’m starting to forget them too. And sometimes I almost call you dad.”

  
Keith felt something catch in his chest and god it hurt, “Tory, sweetie I’m not your dad.”

He felt Tory nod against his arm, “I know. But sometimes it’s a nice dream.”

Keith picked Tory up and placed her in his lap. He wrapped his arms around her to shield her from the cold, “It’s a very nice dream.”

The kids were all in bed when Keith pulled back the curtains, soft music playing in the background, “Looks like you’re stuck here for the night.”

Lance shrugged, “There’s worse places to be stuck.”

  
Keith let the curtain fall back and started picking up a few toys that had been scattered about and one of Laura’s books. He stopped when Lance grabbed his arm, “Hey, are you okay?”

Keith sighed and hugged Laura’s book to his chest, “Yea. It just rattled me a bit that Madison….”

  
Lance pulled the book out of Keith’s hands, “You know that doesn’t mean you did anything wrong.”

Keith watched as Lance placed the book on the mantle, “I know. I just don’t want Jack or Laura resenting me, or thinking I’m trying to replace their parents.”

Lance pulled Keith into his arms and Keith felt his face heat up. He tentatively wrapped his own arms around Lance’s back, “Those kids are lucky to have you.”

  
Keith let his head rest on Lance’s shoulder as the two began swaying to the soft melody of “White Christmas” in the background.

Neither of them noticed Laura smiling with tears in her eyes. Neither of them noticed when she pulled Tory into a side hug. Neither of them heard her whisper to herself, “Oh Keith, he notices you too.”

After that night, there was a definite shift between Lance and Keith. There were soft smiles, light brushing of hands, lingering touches, and a hopelessly romantic thirteen year old bursting with happiness for two oblivious boys who notice each other.

The kids were happy, Keith was happy, and if he would have asked, Lance would have said he was happy too. They spent the weeks leading up to Christmas with shopping adventures, sleigh rides, and one particularly snowy night ice skating. The kids took turns pushing Madison around in a small sled, racing other kids at the outdoor rink, and drinking too much sugary hot chocolate. And later that night Laura watched as Keith followed Lance to his truck. She leaned against the window and sighed as she watched them kiss softly, snow falling around them. She couldn’t help but think it was all so romantic. She couldn’t even begin to feel bad about being caught when Keith spotted her. She pressed at his pink flushed cheeks. He whispered softly so as not to wake up the other kids, “You should be in bed you sneaky little brat.”

Laura just grinned. Her whisper was laced with giddiness, “Is it just as wonderful as it looks when Lance notices you?”

  
Keith couldn’t keep his own smile from taking over his face, “It’s even better.”  
  


One thing Keith learned was that all good things eventually end. It seemed this fairy tale he had been living with the kids and Lance was coming to a screeching halt when two days later Lacy showed up followed by some stiff professional type in a suit. Keith immediately had a bad feeling.

It was just as bad as Keith thought it would be. Even worse was that the kids over heard the conversation and now Jack was back to being angry, “I knew it was too good to be true. He wants to split us all up and take Madison away. We’ll never see her again.”

  
Keith tried to reason with him, “I won’t let him.”

“Yea? Well I heard what he said, you ain’t no social worker and don’t have no say in what happens to us.”

  
Keith didn’t know what to do. His own heart was breaking because Jack was right. He didn’t have any control over what happened. The only way he could fight this was if he was …..

Keith stopped and stared at all five kids. He looked at Laura holding Toby and Tory against her side, tears on all of their faces. He looked at Jack hugging Madison protectively, anger hiding the fear at never seeing his baby sister again. Keith thought about the days and weeks and months of tears and fevers, broken bones, screaming kids, nightmares, and all the laughter. So much laughter and he was not about to give it all up for some hot-shot that thought his shit didn’t stink.

Keith grabbed Jack’s shoulders, “Don’t give up on me Jack. I’m not giving up on any of you ok? Trust me, I’ve got a plan.”

Keith ran to the back of the house to his own room and picked up his phone, “Pidge, I need the best child advocacy lawyer you can find. Money is not an issue.”

The next few days were somber. Other than Madison, the other four kids were quiet, subdued, and less than excited even when opening their Christmas presents. Keith was on the phone night and day. There was a revolving door of people in and out. People that asked the kids countless questions, they asked Keith countless questions, they looked over every nook and cranny in the house that Keith and Lance had repaired.

_Present Day:  
_ Keith was sitting at the table watching the kids pick at their food, “Come on guys, you need to eat.”

Jack pushed his plate away, “Not hungry.”

  
Even Laura who was usually determined to please Keith no matter what pushed her own plate away, “Me either.”

Keith sighed, “You don’t want to be hungry later on tonight watching the fireworks do you?”

  
Tory pushed her plate away and laid her head on the table with a sniffle. They were all so dejected and heartbroken. It seemed as if all of Keith’s efforts were in vain. Madison was scheduled to go with her new _parents_ in three days.

Jack got up just as the door opened and Lance walked in. Jack pushed by him with Kosmo hot on his heels and went to sit outside.

“You guys ready for tonight?”

  
Tory let out a sad huff. Her voice was watery, “I don’t want to go.”

Lance and Keith shared a glance. They were still holding out hope for a miracle but nothing seemed to be going their way.

Several seconds later and there was a knock. Keith opened the door to find the social worker holding papers, “Mr. Kogane, these are papers requesting that Madison be released to her parents now.”

  
Everyone was in an uproar. Kids were crying at the news, Lance was trying to hold Kosmo who appeared out of nowhere, Jack was kicking at the man’s shins and Keith was trying to keep from losing his own composure. He handed Lance his phone, “Call my lawyer.”

  
Lance took his phone with no hesitation. Keith wrapped an arm around Laura who had made her way next to Keith, “I believe we have until the third.”

  
“Things change Mr. Kogane.”

  
Keith glared at the man, “That may be so, but no one is going anywhere until my lawyer gets here.”

  
Forty minutes later and Keith’s lawyer showed up, “Who is this?”

  
Keith just smirked at the social worker, “This is my lawyer, Ms. Holt. I believe she has some news for you.”

Lance was fighting back his own smirk as he watched Pidge work her magic. She held out a hand, “I don’t believe I caught your name?”

  
The social worker frowned, “Mr. Jacobs.”

  
Pidge smiled a wicked smile, “Well, I would say nice to meet you Mr. Jacobs but under the circumstances I don’t think that would be a fair statement.”

“Get on with it Ms. Holt.”

  
Pidge placed her briefcase on the table, “Very well.”

  
She handed Jacobs a folded sheet of paper, “What is this?”

“This is a court ordered document that none of these kids are to leave the premises until the adoption is final.”

  
“I have paper work that says otherwise.”

Pidge just nodded, “And your paperwork is null and void. This document has been in effect for over six months, well before your paperwork was even started. You will also find documentation from Lacy Adams and Jenna Brown recommending Mr. Kogane as temporary foster parent until the adoption is complete.”

  
Mr. Jacobs just scoffed, “And which one of these is being adopted and by whom?”

  
Keith stepped forward, “They are all being adopted.”

  
Jacobs sneered at Keith, “And what unsuspecting idiot would saddle themselves with five brats?”

  
Keith tightened his hold around Laura at her soft gasp at being called a brat, “I believe, Mr. Jacobs, you will find that I am that idiot.”

“And just who do you think you are that you can over turn a court order?”

Lance laughed, “Oh he’s no one. Just the black paladin and leader of Voltron. You know, we saved the universe and all that.”

  
Keith felt immense satisfaction at Jacobs face turning unnaturally pale. He shoved the papers at Keith’s chest and walked out the door.

Lance let out a whoop and hugged Pidge, “That was some fantastic bluffing Pidge.”

  
Keith sat hard in a nearby chair and looked up at Lance, “It wasn’t a bluff.”

  
Lance turned around to stare at Keith, “What?”

  
Keith swallowed hard, “It wasn’t a bluff. Lance, I know this isn’t something you signed up for. And we didn’t talk about this, but I promised these kids I wouldn’t split them up. I’m not going back on that.”

Lance just watched as Pidge gathered the kids up. Once she got them out of the kitchen Lance sat next to Keith, “How long as this been going on?”

  
Keith ran a hand through his hair, “Pretty much from the beginning. I….there was just…”

Keith just hung his head, his voice barely a whisper, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to keep this from you.”

Lance knelt at Keith’s feet, “Hey, look at me.”

Keith looked at Lance but couldn’t stop thinking that this is where it all ended for them. Lance ran a thumb across Keith’s cheek wiping away a tear, “Are you serious about this? About these kids?”

  
Keith nodded, “They need me Lance. And maybe somewhere along the way I realized I needed them just as much. They need a home and I can give them that. I bought this place and it’s their home now for as long as they want it to be.”

  
Lance stood up, “Okay then.”

Keith looked up, “Okay?”

  
Lance nodded and held out his hand to Keith, “Yep, Okay. Let’s tell the kids they got a home and a dad.”

  
There was a soft gasp by the kitchen door and Pidge’s voice from off in the distance, “Laura! I thought I told you to get away from there!”

Before either Lance or Keith could say anything Laura burst through the door, “Do you mean it Keith? You want us? All of us?”

  
Keith pushed back a wild lock of hair from Laura’s face, “Of course I mean it.”

  
Keith could feel Laura trembling where she stood, “You told us to trust you. Not to give up on you.”

“I did.”

Laura wiped a hand across her face, “You were fighting for us all along weren’t you?”

  
Keith pulled Laura into his arms and leaned his head into her soft hair, “From the very beginning.”

  
“Can I call you dad just like Madison?”

  
Keith laughed, “I don’t think I know much how to be a dad.”

  
Laura shrugged and shoved her head into his chest, “That’s okay. I like you just how you are.”

Keith almost forgot about Lance until Laura turned, “Are you giving up on Keith now that he has us?”

  
Lance had to wipe his own tears away. He gave Laura a brilliant smile and shook his head, “Are you kidding? I’m kind of jealous that I didn’t think of this awesome plan first.”

Keith watched as Laura ran to give Lance a hug. He felt as if he was on the cusp of something big and when Lance looked up at him he had to ask, “You’re not mad?”

Lance held out his hand for Keith to take. When his fingers intertwined with Lance’s he was pulled the short distance to Lance, “I’ve never been more proud of you. And this…these kids, this instant family you have…I want to be as much a part of it as you’ll let me.”

They missed the fireworks for New Year’s Eve. But Keith could honestly say he wasn’t sad about it. It was cold and snowing, and there were no fireworks, just four screaming kids with poppers, one toddler chasing after Kosmo, and Lance. Lance, who he was holding in his arms at midnight; Lance and his five kids. God he was a dad to five kids all at once at the age of twenty five. But as he looked around, he wouldn’t have traded this home for the biggest mansion or all the GAC in the universe. This was his home and it was perfect.  
  


**Author's Note:**

> So many people are still reading and leaving Kudos!! Thank you all so much!


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